


Hades and Persephone: A Bedroom chat

by LumpyT3l3vision



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Loving Marriage, Mentioned Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Touch-Starved Hades, Touch-starved persephone, everyone is touch starved, perspective shift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 16:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30075207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LumpyT3l3vision/pseuds/LumpyT3l3vision
Summary: After the garden scene in the game, Hades and Persephone have a chat in their bedroom. The same conversation from both characters' perspectives. They talk about their feelings, mostly.
Relationships: Hades & Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Hades/Persephone, Hades/Persephone (Hades Video Game), Persephone & Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Hades and Persephone: A Bedroom chat

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to explore characters and perspectives. I've been working on this one a while but at some point I just gotta stop the perfectionism and post! So here is some Hades and Persephone in the bedroom in the most innocent way. Nothing salacious- how could you assume such a thing! Bah!

#### Persephone

“Hades, we should talk about this”

He stands perfectly still. Even the air around him is still. No wind pushes the air in the underworld, and its King remains unswaying, attentive. My poor awkward husband, what are you afraid of?

“Come, sit on the bed with me.”

I move towards him, closing some the distance between us. With both my hands, I grab one of his. His hands engulf mine, warm to the touch. I guide him gently towards the edge of the bed, never letting his hand go.

“Does this mean you intend to stay?” He asks, his red eyes pleading. “With me-With us?”

“For the foreseeable future, yes,” I say softly.

We sit in a tense silence. Conversation used to flow so easily between us. He used to speak to me in ways he never spoke to anyone else. Now he remains guarded, silent. He never was a man of many words, but he used to know when _I_ needed him to speak.

Perhaps I must change tactics. It is hard to put all we have been through into words. I massage his hand with my thumbs. It’s a simple gesture, but it’s one we’ve shared before after a long day of parchment work. I feel him ease a bit, his shoulders slouching. A sigh escapes his lips.

“You are too good to me Persephone. Too kind. I do not deserve you-”

“No, Hades. I understand you. You should never have kept my son from me,” I give him a pointed look” but all your faults and all your mistakes do not mean you do not deserve kindness. You were trying to protect me… weren’t you, Hades.”

“You weren’t safe here. I feared a war with Olympus.” Though he towers above me, the desperation in his eyes makes him vulnerable.

“I don’t mean the war, Hades…well that too, but you were trying to protect me from, _here_ weren’t you? This place! You feared I would become resentful being stuck here… that I would become you.”

His eyes soften as if he’s realizing this for the first time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. Who could he talk to down here? From what Zagreus told me, he doesn’t seem to be on very good terms with anyone. He must have been so alone, like he was when I met him. My heart aches for him, but I am also still furious he kept Zagreus from me. I am even more furious that he took out his frustrations on our son. 

“You had a choice Persephone; you chose to leave” there is bitterness in his words. How can I expect him to trust me?

“That is not fair Hades, had I known Zagreus lived it would have affected my decision!”

“Gah! But is it a choice to be trapped here by responsibility? You were suffocating here. A goddess of verdure should not live where the sun does not shine!” he bellows. His voice echoes in our bed chambers. If there were glass nearby, I fear it would shatter.

“Do not tell me where I can and cannot live Hades. You are not in charge of me! You do not make that choice for me! We are equals in this marriage. I deserved to know that our son was alive! I deserved to know!” I yell, tears welling in my eyes. “When he died Hades…that sputtering breath. He was so cold. It broke me Hades. I could not stay here.”

“I know. I did what I thought was best” he says, softer now. He must see how his tone provoked me.

“And my thoughts didn’t matter?” I say softly. He must see the pain he caused me, taking away my choice like my mother, like Zeus. But then again, I caused him pain too by leaving him, didn’t I. With a sigh, I let go my harsh feelings. They won’t help me now. With a deep breath, I bring them to the surface and let my bitterness dissipate like morning dew.

I sigh, “I forgive you Hades. I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me…for leaving.” I look directly in his eyes. So few do. His temper diffuses. He smells like a candle recently snuffed.

He raises his eyebrows. “Of course…I cannot stay mad at you,” he says softly, the whisper of smoke after the flame. I give him a soft smile. 

“Good,” I say. “We can work with that…now about Zagreus…you really must try to call him by his name for a start.”

“*scoff* You’re here not ten minutes and already lecturing me about how to raise my son?” he jests.

“ _Our_ son, you mean. And yes, is it not my job as your wife and queen?”

The corner of his mouth quirks upwards. He must have missed our banter. Blood and darkness, I missed it too.

“And do you expect to immediately assume _all_ your previous duties, my Queen?” Hades raised an eyebrow. My mind wanders as I think about what that might imply.

“Well, I have been lonely… did I hear you say you would do _whatever_ I asked?”

#### Hades

“Hades, we should talk about this,” Persephone says.

I am at a loss for words. She is _here_.

“Come, sit on the bed with me.”

She inches closer and takes my hand into hers. Touch is easy with her, but it feels like a bolt of electricity through my body and I half-wonder if my brother is nearby. She leads me to the bed. _Our_ bed, so full of memories with her…and lonely memories without her.

“Does this mean you intend to stay? With me-With _us_?” I quickly correct. Again, I have forgotten Zagreus in my desperation. Of course, she came back for the boy, not for me.

“For the foreseeable future, yes,” she says softly.

We sit in a tense silence. Conversation used to flow so easily between us. I miss her laugh: that lilting laugh I hear echoes of in our son. What could I say to make her laugh again? To make her smile. I used to know.

I am knocked away from my thoughts by the gentle pressure of her fingers on my hand. She massages me the way she used to. The cramp in my hand melts away at her touch. Her lavender scent and delicate touch calm me in a way I haven’t felt since she left.

“You are too good to me Persephone. Too kind. I do not deserve you-”

“No, Hades. I understand what you were trying to do, though I don’t agree that you should have kept my son from me.” She gives me a look. “You were trying to protect me… weren’t you, Hades.”

“You weren’t safe here. I feared a war with Olympus.” A pitiful excuse. I wouldn’t accept such an excuse from a begging shade, why should she. War does not scare me, though I have seen enough to develop a distaste for it. War brings a lot of paperwork.

“I don’t mean the war, Hades…well that too, but you were trying to protect me from _here_ weren’t you? This place! You feared I would become resentful being stuck here… that I would become you.”

“You had a choice Persephone; you chose to leave” 

“That is not fair Hades, had I known Zagreus lived it would have affected my decision!”

“gah! But is it a choice to be trapped here by responsibility? You were suffocating here. A goddess of verdure should not live where the sun does not shine!”

“Do not tell me where I can and cannot live Hades. You are not in charge of me! You do not make that choice for me! We are equals in this marriage. I deserved to know that our son was alive! I deserved to know!” I see tears of righteous fury in her eyes. I hate that it is directed at me.

“When he died Hades…that sputtering breath. He was so cold. It broke me, Hades. I could not stay here.”

I remember. How could I ever forget? My vibrant goddess of Spring withered that day. I lost a son in my own domain _to_ my own domain. How cruel the Fates are. At least they were reasonable enough to bring him back.

“I did what I thought was best”

“And my thoughts didn’t matter?”

I could not ask her thoughts. She left. I cannot say this although it is technically true. I would probably get in trouble.

“I forgive you Hades. I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me…for leaving.”

“Of course, I cannot stay angry at you,” she was upset. There are many reasons for her to go. I just have to make sure she wants to stay. It is time to put this ordeal behind us. We have more productive things to do.

“Good, we can work with that…now about Zagreus…you really must try to call him by his name… for a start.” The humor returns to her voice.

“*scoff* You’re here not ten minutes and already lecturing me about how to raise my son?” I jest. I welcome her lectures. She is much better at managing interpersonal relationships.

“ _Our_ son, you mean,” she corrects, “And yes, is it not my duty as your wife and queen?”

Ah, duty. I know all about _duty_.

“And do you expect to immediately assume _all_ your previous duties, my Queen?”

Her lips quirk into a smile.

“Well, I have been lonely… did I hear you say you would do _whatever_ I asked? It’s tempting, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to do first.”

My disappointment is quickly chased by my surprise as Persephone gets up and leaps backwards onto the bed.

“Oh, I’ve missed this bed. It’s so much more comfortable than my cottage. Oh! and freshly washed sheets!”

_Thank you, Dusa,_ I think.

She luxuriates in the bed, rejoicing in the softness of the sheets and scent of clean linen. A moment is never dull with her.

“Aren’t you going to join me, my King?”


End file.
